The Stroller: 'Shortchanged?'

Tuesday

May 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Bill Meyer of Moore asks the question, "Are we being shortchanged when it comes to our state roads in the Upstate?" Reporting figures from the state maintenance program for 2013, he says it's interesting that District 3, which includes Greenville, Spartanburg, Pickens and Oconee counties, has, when compared to the state's seven districts, the lowest amount budgeted for highway maintenance at $28,329,942. "District 4, including Cherokee and York counties, is the next lowest at $31,541,171," he says.

By Lou Parrisstroller@shj.com

Bill Meyer of Moore asks the question, “Are we being shortchanged when it comes to our state roads in the Upstate?” Reporting figures from the state maintenance program for 2013, he says it's interesting that District 3, which includes Greenville, Spartanburg, Pickens and Oconee counties, has, when compared to the state's seven districts, the lowest amount budgeted for highway maintenance at $28,329,942. “District 4, including Cherokee and York counties, is the next lowest at $31,541,171,” he says. “Yet, in District 3, the percentage of federal aid roads listed in the poor or very poor category is 43.02 percent, and in the non-federal aid road category, the percentage is 49.2 percent. In District 4, the percentage on federal aid roads is 41.39 percent, and the percentage on non-federal aid roads is 46.95 percent. Compare that with District 5, which includes Horry County. It had $40,669,888 budgeted, highest of the seven districts. The percentage of federal aid roads in poor or very poor condition in District 5 is 31.87 percent, and the percentage of non-federal aid roads is 24.48 percent. In District 6, which includes Charleston, $35,786,473 is budgeted, and the percentage of federal aid roads in poor or very poor condition is 35.73 percent, and the percentage of non-federal aid roads is 23.13 percent. The lowest percentage of poor and very poor roads is in District 7, which includes Aiken and Barnwell, where the percentage of federal aid roads in poor or very poor condition is 34.88 percent, and the percentage of non-federal aid roads is 21.95 percent, and they were given $32,247,068. This is higher than for District 3 or District 4, which had a substantially higher percentages of roads at poor or very poor in the highway maintenance program. So, do you think we are being shortchanged in the Upstate? Let your state senator know what you think. They will be debating the road budget issue this week.”

‘THANK YOU': Rick Chapman of Boiling Springs is grateful for the care his wife, Carolyn, received during her stay in Mary Black Memorial Hospital: “In particular I want to thank the third-floor staff, Dr. John Tate and my church family at Parkway Free Will Baptist Church in Boiling Springs. Thank you very much. My family appreciates the thoughtfulness of each.”

‘WAITED YEARS': A woman was found guilty in traffic court, and when she was asked for her occupation, she said she was a schoolteacher. The judge rose from the bench and said, “Ma'am, I've waited years for a schoolteacher to appear before this court.” He smiled and continued, “Now sit down at that table and write ‘I will not run a red light' 1,000 times.”

ODDS AND ENDS: The Fine Arts Department of Spartanburg County School District 7 will present “Beauty and the Beast” in the Chapman Cultural Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, with other performances at 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets can be purchased by calling 542-2787. David Evans gave Stroller readers a lesson in manners last week, which was National Etiquette Week, and he's inviting everyone to visit his website, www.ipeconsulting.net, and post on his blog any etiquette question, horror stories, gaffes, faux pas, and — on the positive side — any special positive experience of some random act of kindness, courtesy or respect that made you smile. You'll find a link to his blog on his website.

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